


Fade To Black

by ScrapperInBlack (Cell0113)



Category: Megamind (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 06:16:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15018467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cell0113/pseuds/ScrapperInBlack
Summary: Megamind dies. Metro Man, Roxanne and the rest of Metro City struggle to figure out a world without super-villainy.First time writing for the Megamind fandom and of course I gotta roll out the sad.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I literally hurled up this fic in the span of about 4 hours after binging on a bunch of Megamind goodies here on AO3. There are a couple fics out there that deal with Megamind dying, but nothing that really fit this niche, and the mental image of Minion, Metro Man and Roxanne grieving together in the after math was too much for me to hold back.
> 
> I'm using the name 'Wayne Scott' for Metro Man's civilian identity only because it seems to be the most common. That, and imagining Megamind butchering the pronunciation of Wahy-Enn makes me snicker.

It was supposed to be just another day.

Admittedly, 'just another day' for Roxanne Ritchi was a tad skewed from the average persons, but that didn't mean that there wasn't a routine to follow. Within in three days of yet another prison escape, there was a 50/50 chance of her being kidnapped by the city's local super villain as bait for his next latest plot. Sometimes he showed up sooner, sometimes later, but three days was the average she had figured out over the years.

She had woken up with the customary bag over her head, still smelling musty and slightly of coconut from the shampoo she'd been trying out a few months back, Megamind had greeted her with his usual dramatic flair which quickly developed into the back and forth banter she had come to enjoy so much. Minion wasn't present for once, something that was quickly explained when the blue super genius had gotten a call from his radio set up. Apparently the cyborg fish was implementing part of the day's plot from afar, which she couldn't help feeling was too bad.  
She quite liked Minion, he was a real sweetheart and made the absolute best macaroons she had ever tasted, even when they were dosed with knock out drugs.

It all started to go wrong when she began to smell something burning.

Megamind noticed it very quickly after she did, and she saw his large forehead crinkle with befuddlement as he straightened from the radio. His green eyes went frightfully wide when he looked her way, catching sight of something she didn't, and all of a sudden the radio was on the floor, dropped as he bolted for her. The abrupt change in his behavior took her so off guard she didn't even have a chance to yelp before he had heaved her up off the floor in his wiry arms, chair and all, before running for a hidden door she hadn't even glimpsed behind the big screen of his computer.  
She managed to look back before the door swung closed, and felt a knot of panic in her lower belly at seeing some kind of bulbous machine full of roiling liquid visibly smoking, sparks spitting from somewhere inside the knot of wires and cables that made up the base.

What ever the thing was, Roxanne saw it begin to catch fire as the door slammed closed.

The lithe blue alien somehow managed to run at full tilt down a narrow corridor with her carried in his arms, and this close, she can't help but see how panicked he is, how his eyes are wide and his brow is furrowed, just barely able to make out the tension in his jaw as he grits his teeth. She glanced back, her own eyes widening at glimpsing curls of smoke.

"M-Megamind?!"

He doesn't say anything, doesn't retort or remark on her fear driven stutter, but his grip on her tightens and he manages to put on a burst of speed that sends them busting through another, heavier door just as she heard a dull tinkling noise from behind them. There's a mass of multicolored brain bots hovering about in the new room, and they 'bowg' at their creator as he continues across the floor as quickly as his long legs can carry him, several beginning to follow before he shouted at them, saying something about a 'fail-safe' and 'code: explosion imminent' in a somewhat breathless tone that made that knot of panic in her stomach twist tighter.

This is bad. This is very, very bad.

They make it across the room, Megamind swerving to take a rather tight turn, when there's a low subsonic rumble that shakes the floor, and she hears him gasp before they're both tumbling to the ground as he lost his footing. Still tied to the chair, she can't catch herself, and she cries out as she's sent skidding on her side, thankfully managing to avoid crushing her hands though she smacks her head pretty soundly on the concrete floor. It hurt enough to make her dizzy, and she heard a scrabbling noise, the heavy tread of overlarge boots, before she was being hauled up.  
Everything sounds muffled, like through a down quilt or heavy fog, but she sees a blur of blue and black through the haze of her vision.

"-itchi, Miss Ritchi-! BRAIN BOTS!"

There's a chorus of 'bowg' noise, a sudden rush of displaced air and there are at least a dozen of the odd robots brightening the suddenly hazy air. Roxanne manages to focus just long enough to hear her name spoken in a frantic tone in the same breath as the word 'hospital' before she's surrounded and being hefted steadily off the floor by the semi-canine constructs.  
They start to carry her off, swift and steady, but her eyes won't leave the black and blue blur that turns to race back the way they had come, and she finds her voice as she realizes what that means.

"Megamind!"

She doesn't get the chance to see if he even stops as the brain bots carry her up and out a high window that looks like it had been the original point of entrance, and she feels a sinking in her chest as they fly her as far and fast as they can away from the re-purposed industrial building that has begun to emit black smoke from its back side.

Another rumble, louder and angrier somehow, and she feels her eyes widen as her blurry vision focuses just enough to make out the jet of acid green flame that punches through the building's roof, followed by another mixed with white. Fire that hot shouldn't be smoking, she knows that from dealing with the destructive super genius for so long, but there are billows of thick black smoke gushing out of every window, streaming up towards the atmosphere in huge inky gouts that look almost demonic against the clear blue sky.

Loud bowging interrupts her daze, and the brain bots swoop down abruptly in a way that makes her gasp in surprise, narrowly avoiding a pale streak of pure speed she recognizes belatedly as the city's greatest hero.  
He needs to know-!

"WAYNE! HE'S STILL INSIDE! HE'S STILL INSIDE!"

Roxanne didn't know she could be so loud, her voice pitched up to almost cracking, and she knows he's heard her when a dull noise she recognizes as the sound barrier rupturing reaches her ears. He'll get there in time, he always gets there in time, he HAS to get there in time-!

In her distraction, she doesn't realize that the brain bots haven't returned to their previous trajectory until she can no longer see the building, lost behind other warehouses and factories. Something in her begins to panic, and she begins to struggle as best she can, vision blurring as she watches the sky turn darker and darker with every passing moment.  
Abruptly, she feels she's being set down, the chair settled onto solid ground, and then there are large but familiar metal hands steadying her, a quiet voice lost in the bubbling haze of her cotton-filled ears.

She can hear a tremor of fear in that voice, and that twist in her guts winds tighter even as she grows still.

The brain bots hover around them as Minion treats her small injuries, patching up a slash across her forehead she hadn't even realized was there until he was gentle patting at it with an alcohol wipe. Her vision clears as the pain begin to ebb, and she looked up towards the blackness just in time to feel a rumble through the ground. It's like an earthquake but so much worse, so much more concentrated, and she almost falls over if not for Minion's quick movements.

Bits of debris and masonry rain down as the smoke belched up huge and terrible like a nuclear cloud, and a brain bot narrowly escaped being smashed by a stray piece of brick. Minion makes a small sound, and she looked up to see his motions have ceased, and the little fish in the water filled dome has turned away from her, looking towards the smoke with an expression that makes her chest ache.

"...Minion...?"

There's another rumbling sound, a second bout of flying debris, and she looks up to see a small white colored speck zooming upwards with what looks like what is left of that whole room, fire and smoke and bits of stuff crumbling away from a combination of speed and destructive force. Metro Man, it had to be Metro Man, vanished somewhere in the stratosphere with his burden, and a split second later, the whole sky became lit with a terrible green-yellow-white burst of energy. It rippled across the sky like a far more destructive Aurora Borealis, and she hears Minion's robotic body shudder as another small sound escapes him.

Around her, the brain bots bowg sporadically, their strange vocalizations duller and more subdued than she has ever heard them. They know something she doesn't, and for once, she doesn't WANT to know. She can see it in Minion's wide brown eyes, she can hear it in the brain bots soft sounds, she can feel it in her chest where something has curled tight around her heart and lungs, but she doesn't know, she doesn't, not really, she doesn't want to know-!

A speck of white returned from the growing cloud cover, and after a few short moments, the smoke began to dissipate as its source is snuffed out.  
And then he's there, white and beige suit smeared with smoke and grit, the edges of his cape singed, his perfect hair disheveled for the first time she's ever seen. He carries something in his arms, shrouded in black fabric she realizes she recognizes a split second before he looks up and-

There's tears in his eyes.  
His hundred watt smile is gone, his lips instead pressed into a thin line, and she can only stare as he walks -WALKS- the few slow steps forward needed to close the distance between him and their stunned little group.  
She can't stop staring at the bundle in his arms, so small cradled carefully against his broad chest, the shape of it too familiar to her eye.

"He was trying to shut it down."

Metro Man- Wayne's voice is soft, barely more than a whisper, but it carries somehow, over the bowgs and the bubbling water and her heartbeat thundering in her ears, and it's more confirmation than she ever wanted to hear. The thing in her chest squeezes tighter around her lungs, and she hears Minion make a small strangled sound as he shuffled a few steps forward.

"I- I tried, I- I was going to super speed him out, but he said the machine had to go, one or the other, he-"

One of those tears slips free, leaving a clean streak through the smoke and dirt on his face.

"He made me choose..."

He shifted his grip, trying to hold the bundle a little closer, and the motion shifted the black shroud, just enough for an arm to fall loose. Roxanne feels her breath catch harshly in her throat, seeing black leather and blue skin and there's blood oh god there's so much blood-!

A strangled inhuman noise of pure pain, and she can only watch in a haze as Minion crumples to his knees, huge metal hands gently scooping up the scrapped and bloodied blue one, so small and frail looking without the personality there that made them larger than life itself. Her vision is blurring again, and the brain bots are making more sounds now, the bwogs becoming interspersed with mechanical grinding and a low whining sound that reminds her so much of a sad dog.

It hurts to breathe, hurts to think, and she can't stop the tears as Wayne moves to gently shift the bundle -the body- into Minion's grasp, the fish still making that agonized sound she thinks now is the only way he can cry. One of the brain bots hovers close to her, a blue and black blur, and she can't take it.

She doesn't even realize she's been freed until she's stumbling to her feet, shuffling the few steps needed before she knelt beside Minion with Wayne crouching protectively nearby, the brain bots all moving to huddle around them in a glowing, whining ring of semi-sentient mechanical life.

How long they end up staying there, huddled together in mutual grief, none of them know. It ended with the quiet chime of a cell phone, and Wayne scrubbed a gloved hand over his face as he forces himself to stand. The phone is pulled from a holder at the small of his back, and he answers.

"Metro Man."

His free hand was rested on Minion's free shoulder, close enough they can all hear the Mayor's hesitant voice.

"No, Mr Mayor, there is no further danger. I was assured the energy emitted by the destruction of the device will be harmless once it reaches us from the stratosphere, but if there are any worries, please recommend the general public stay indoors as much as possible for the next few days."

Roxanne listened in a haze, resting on Minion's other shoulder, her arms wrapped around the robot body's bicep as the alien fish continued to keen, hunched over the black wrapped body in his arms.

"I appreciate your concern, Mr Mayor, but I have another call to make. Thank you for your concern."

He didn't wait for the Mayor to speak his farewells or thanks, hanging up before quickly beginning to type in a number she realized she recognized. It was a number she ended up having memorized pretty early in her escapades with the current company, and her breath catches in her throat at hearing the gruff voice answer the end of the line.

"Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted, Warden John Parker speaking."

In the span of a breath, Metro Man is gone, and Wayne was swallowing hard, eyes closing as he tried to steel himself.

"Warden. It- It's Wayne."

A pin could drop in the yawning silence.

"...how did it happen?"

Roxanne felt her insides twist in on themselves at the brittle quality in that quiet gruff voice. Wayne gripped gently at Minion's shoulder, fingers running through the simulated fur there.

"The machine he was working on. Spontaneously combusted. He- He did everything he could. To keep it from blowing. He- He said it would have taken out the whole industrial district..."

The hero swallowed hard, eyes still closed, and Roxanne remembers he mentioned super vision, the ability to see far far further than even eagles were able. Coupled with his ability to see through most solid surfaces...  
He was keeping himself from looking in the direction of the prison, but there was no way to stop himself from listening to the voice cracking on the other end of the phone call.

"Is there a body?"

"Yes, sir. I got him out before the building went down. I- I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry."

There was a low huffing sound from the phone, and she saw Wayne wince, obviously hearing something more than the phone allowed. It took a few moments before the Warden spoke again, that brittle quality of his voice only grown stronger.

"Bring him home. We- I'll take care of the rest."

"Yes, sir."

A click, and Wayne dropped the phone from his ear, his features drawn and tired in a way that made him finally seem truly human. He flinched, almost crushing the phone, and Roxanne reached out one hand, her elbow gently brushing against the black silken shroud she finally recognizes as one of the villain's signature capes before she finds her fingers gripping at the hero's knee. He looks down at her, at Minion, the body, and his face crumples, the suppressed tears spilling forth.

It's just them, together, mourning, for a long time after ward.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs referenced:  
> Metallica - Nothing Else Matters  
> Ozzy Osbourne - See You On the Other Side
> 
>  
> 
> Not sure if I'll ever continue this, but if someone wants to add an aside, do feel free.

There's a service three weeks later.

In the meantime, a stray few attempt to celebrate the passing of the city's villainous master mind, but one look from a still red-eyed Metro Man quells their well meaning but cruel actions. Everyone expects there to be a surge of petty crime in the wake of the loss, but the criminal underground is strangely quiet, respectful even. One quick look around the red light district finds black streamers and papers covering every sign and window, every Asian restaurant in town is suddenly bedecked with beautiful white and black chains of blessings, little shrines shrouded in incense and almost buried under offerings.  
No one so much as touches the gifts of food and small wealth.

Roxanne can't stand her apartment, the silence of it and the memories simply glancing out the balcony window smack her with, and she's in the middle of packing when there's a knock at her door.  
Waiting outside is Minion and some two dozen brain bots, the alien fish looking dejected with a small tin lunch box hugged to his chest.

"It's too quiet."

Moving is postponed, but she closed all her curtains when Minion flinches at seeing the view. Wayne stops by a couple times in civilian attire, and finally asks if they want to get away from the apartment that's grown tiny with multiple occupants all suffocating under the same grief. It takes some talking, some convincing, but Wayne helps her and Minion find a bigger place. She doesn't question the two of them now living together, she feels like being alone is the most horrible thing in the world right now and from the way Minion lingers close whenever she's home, he feels the same way.

After the move, a small pack of brain bots take to following her everywhere, ranging from three to six depending on the day. When asked, Minion looks at her with this quiet ache behind his sad brown eyes and says they're protecting what's left of their Daddy, what he loved.  
It hurts more than she would have ever thought, to be told that the villain had cared for her so much.

The large pink one ends up being hugged, and she can't stop the tears.

They come together to the service, her and Minion and Wayne, the brain bots flittering along behind them in a glittering mass of blue electricity and black metal. She can't bring herself to wear black, all she can think of when seeing it is that silken cape reduced to a shroud, so she goes the other way. The dress she found catches her off guard as she walked by a little second hand store, beautiful and striking and she knows she's crying as she buys it but she doesn't care.

Minion sees it, looks at her and smiles for the first time since everything fell down about their ears. He works his magic, and Roxanne Ritchi strides solemnly across the grass in a flowing gown that shimmers and shines in every shade of blue, her shoulders bare with silver gloves covering up past her elbows and a crown of metal spikes holding back her color streaked hair. With the brain bots flitting about her, plucking up the flowing train, she looks every inch a Queen that may have matched a certain super villain.

It's a vision that does not go unnoticed, and the Warden looks at her like he's seeing a ghost and an angel in the same space.

Surrounded by the mob bosses and murderers and pimps that a little boy with blue skin called Uncle, a woman takes the shaking hands of a grieving father and lets him lean against her shoulder as he finally allows himself to cry.  
Wayne stands back, for once blending into the crowd in a crisp black suit with an electric blue tie, but Minion sees the man who helped raise him crumple and it's only the heavy spikes installed on his shoulder plates that stop him from scooping up the older man in a fierce bear hug. 

The service is decidedly odd, but fitting for the one it memorializes.

Three different religions offered their practitioners; A Satanist clad in red, a Catholic in white and gold, and a Shinto monk serene in orange speak quietly before sharing the burden of blessing the passing soul while shreds of Metallica drift up from speakers laid about the wide open hill top. In the front row, Roxanne sits quiet, the Warden firmly sandwiched between her and Minion to have someone to lean on as the three speak of a man the public never saw, who sought to stamp out the systemic poverty and hunger that clawed at the belly of their city, who volunteered his services and time to help those who could not help themselves, who dug into the criminal underworld and brought the beast of it to heel under his rule.  
People stood and spoke, not a dry eye to be seen as they related their stories, and Roxanne was glad she wore nothing but waterproof black eyeliner as she shared a packet of Kleenex with the Warden.

She leaned over to give the grieving man a gentle hug as a quiet fell, then stood from her seat, quietly thanking the pink brain bot that never seemed to leave her side as it handed her a microphone.

"Ever since the very first time I was confronted with Megamind, I knew he was someone special. I was young, and reckless, and got too close trying to get the scoop of a story that was too wild to be anything but real. He grabbed me and held me hostage with that dehydration gun of his, but when Metro Man attempted to use his lazer vision, Megamind turned and took the hit himself rather than risk me getting hurt. I remember practically pummeling the stuffing out of him to put out the fire, and I know I called Metro Man many, MANY unsavory things for his poor judgment."

A low bowg, and she managed a small smile as she pet over the glass dome of one of the smaller brain bots.

"I guess that set the precedent for all out encounters from there on in. He threatened me, kidnapped me, tied me up and knocked me unconscious. But he never, ever hurt me. Not once. Not even by accident. He always planned ahead for every contingency, had back up plans for his back up plans, just to make sure that I was never harmed in the game he played with our city's hero."

She swallowed, hard, and blinked rapidly to hold back tears.

"He got me out, when everything went wrong. Picked me up, chair and all, and he ran us out of there. I never knew he was so strong, he didn't look it. I don't think any of us will ever know just how strong he was, what he was willing and able to do to make sure those he cared for most would be alright."

Her voice was wavering, and her vision was blurring, but that was okay, the tears didn't hurt like they did those weeks before.

"Perhaps he was a villain, perhaps some of the things he did were considered unlawful, but he never failed to have his heart in the right place. I think we can all agree that Robin Hood was a savior to the people of his time, and I believe that Megamind was something the same for the people of this city."

She swallowed, closing her eyes and let the tears fall.

"He was a special, unique person, and he will be missed."

Handing the microphone back to the pink brain bot (she really needed to ask if the bots had names), Roxanne settled back in her seat, taking the Warden's hand and giving it a firm squeeze. Minion managed a few words, but was unable to finish before he was inconsolable, and Wayne disinclined to say anything more than "I wish I could have been a better friend" before settling to helping the alien fish with his grief.

There were a few moments of silence, the practitioners waiting patiently for the tears to quiet, before the Satanist stepped forward, red robes brilliant against the black irises and green grass.

"As dictated by the last will and testament of the departed and as requested by the remaining family, the conclusion of today's ceremony will be the dispersal of the departed's ashes via firework display to the song See You On The Other Side as performed by Ozzy Osbourne. Please remain seated until the ceremony has completed for means of safety. Thank you."

The brain bots all began to bowg and clank their teeth in excitement, and Roxanne watched as the lot of them rushed forward through the seated crowd, following the blimp up into the sky as it spat black smog to cloud the brilliant blue sky. Minion made a sniffling sound, but when she looked his way, he was looking up at the darkening sky with a wide toothy smile.

It did not take long for the sky to grow dark enough for the purposes of the ceremony, and she sat back as the music started with the low strum of guitars.

Flickers of blue sparked to life in the shadowy darkness, patterns rippling across the sky in time to the steady thump of drums, and Roxanne couldn't help a gasp as the lights coalesced to form a familiar face. Brilliant green eyes crinkled at the corners in a smile she was realizing just now how much she had missed, perfectly groomed eyebrows arched in that sassy suave manner she was never going to see again.

The fireworks began, flashes of gold, silver, blue and green that burst to life as the larger than life facsimile sang along to the pitched lyrics. Beside her, the Warden began to laugh, the sounds more watery than cheerful, but it was the first time he had even smiled since that fateful phone call.

"He always did want to go out with a bang."

It was a presentation to top all others, the brain bots forming a pointillist portrait of remarkable detail while fireworks and laser lights flickered in glorious display across the artificially darkened sky, slowly fading away as the song came to an end. One last brilliant smile, and the vision from beyond death vanished into pinpricks of light that rushed back to earth to swirl gleefully around what remained of their Daddy's family.

Roxanne let herself be swept up in the bowging mob, petting domes and praising the talented cyborgs with her heart in her throat. She finally managed to get them to calm down after a few minutes, and eventually, she coaxed them into helping escort everyone to the reception area while she took care of the Warden and Minion, Wayne lending a hand as he was needed.

As she strode across the lawn towards the pale Gothic structure, she found herself feeling lighter and happier than she had in weeks, and didn't bother to hold back a laugh as she realized how easy it was for the blue alien to make her smile, even after he was gone.


End file.
